As an employer, you already know that employees can be a source of strength and support for your cybersecurity system. With the proper training and knowledge, your team can help to defend your organization again potential malicious attacks, malware, and any other breach. Security awareness training is one effective tool that businesses can use to enhance their cybersecurity from within.
Whether your organization requires strict compliance with HIPAA, FISMA, or PCI, or you would like to improve security awareness in general, professional security awareness training is a strong starting point. Working with a qualified, external cybersecurity service can be the ideal way to meet necessary obligations and achieve improved awareness in-house.
What is security awareness training?
Security awareness training encompasses various skills and areas of understanding that employees need to navigate the modern workplace. With more reliance on digital technology in modern offices or remote working spaces, it is crucial that your staff have the resources and knowledge needed to keep themselves and your business safe. Security awareness covers anything from malware to WiFi, providing the insight that employees need to make considered choices with cybersecurity.
Why is security awareness training important?
An appropriate level of understanding of cybersecurity is essential for many workplace functions and tasks. Security awareness training provides employees with the insight and guidance to carry out their work safely. By understanding the risks they face, staff can prevent breaches and other cybersecurity issues before they occur. Some of the reasons security awareness is so important include:
Faster recognition
By having the information and knowledge of cybersecurity fresh in their minds, employees can spot malicious hacking attempts and potential issues before they cause damage. This faster response time can help mitigate data loss, prevent a breach in security, and ensure all privacy policies are met for data.
Improved understanding
Improving overall understanding of cybersecurity can provide employees with the confidence and knowledge needed to make the right choices. An improved understanding also allows for faster reporting of incidents, allowing for a quick response when problems occur.
A safer environment
Security awareness helps improve the workplace’s safety, both through digital spaces and in physical offices. By raising awareness of security concerns and unsafe practices, employees can take responsibility to make their workplace safer for themselves and others.
Better protection for customers
Businesses that work directly with customers are required to hold specific cybersecurity standards. Additional training in security awareness can provide the foundations to protect customers’ information and data better, from payment information to addresses and content details.
Relevance to employees
For employees, the benefit of security awareness training can be both professionally and personally valuable. Understanding the latest phishing scams and potential risks can help to improve their safety outside of work hours when accessing browsers, apps, and email clients for personal use.
What topics are covered in security awareness training?
Security awareness training covers a wide range of topics. The exact areas covered may vary depending on the compliance specifications required or the specific threats relevant to an organization’s nature. The topics that are covered may include:
Physical security
The exact specifications of physical security can vary from business to business. Security awareness training can cover specific aspects of keeping the workplace safe, from locking desk draws to guidelines for who is allowed into the office. Internal policies for physical security can be backed up by improving awareness and ensuring employees know what to do in specific circumstances.
Desktop security
Desktop security refers to security in using technology around the office. For example, security awareness surrounding desktop security may include failure to lock or shut down computers when away from the desk or leaving other devices unlocked and accessible to the public or others in the workspace. Desktop security helps to prevent in-person cybersecurity risks.
Wireless network safety
The use of WiFi and wireless networks are critical areas for security awareness training. Helping employees understand how to keep their devices secure, which WiFi is suitable for business use, and the risks involved in connecting with unsecured WiFi can all be included in security awareness training. This area of training is particularly important for organizations with employees on the road or working remotely.
Password security
Passwords form the basis for security for many online accounts and services. This training includes specific software accessed by employees, databases and even banking details for a business. Training in this area covers the importance of safety in choosing passwords, not reusing passwords, and using two-factor authentication to improve upon security measures.
Information security
Information security refers to any information gathered from outside the business or generated within the company that must be kept private and secure. Awareness training covers the importance of adequately managing sensitive information, how to store data effectively, and the methods that can weaken the security of information, such as writing information on paper and not disposing of it correctly.
Access security
Access security training covers a range of different access points to your organization. This training could include passcodes used on physical doors, how people can connect to internal servers and business-specific technology. Training provides insight into the importance of maintaining strict access control and noticing any abnormalities in access as well.
Phishing
Phishing is a form of email scam in which a malicious hacker tries to get an employee to click a link, download information, or provide confidential information to an outside party. Awareness training provides the resources that employees need to identify, recognize and report phishing attempts, preventing the access of information or data by someone not authorized to do so.
Malware
Malware can enter a business quickly through a single individual if they are unaware of the risks and damage that a malicious attack may cause. Employee training covers how to spot and stop a variety of types of malware, as well as the defenses that should be in place and maintained to prevent malware from accessing business systems and technology.
Ransomware
Ransomware is malicious software that can lock employees or whole organizations out of their systems, requesting payment for access. By improving employee awareness of the ways malicious hackers can access systems, it’s possible to prevent ransomware from being installed either locally or server-side with knowledge as a defense.
Browser and social media safety
Employees can benefit from training to improve awareness of the risks involved in social media and online browsing, preventing potential harm to your business. With many employees accessing social channels and the internet through your WiFi or computer systems, providing insight into the risks to watch out for can prevent problems from occurring.
Social engineering
Social engineering is a sophisticated scam where employees can be manipulated to reveal passwords, login information, and other details over the phone or via chat systems. Training can help employees spot non-genuine interactions, preventing them from disclosing information that should never be passed on through these channels.
Clean desk practices
Clean desk policies can be a valuable part of awareness training, reducing the risks of sensitive information falling into the wrong hands. This training covers physical desks, locking away sensitive files, and being aware of surroundings when working with data. Clean desk policies and training also apply to digital practices, including not storing information on local hard drives and locking computers when away from the desk.
Device best practices
Training in the use of smartphones, tablets, and removable media devices can prevent the possibility of external cybersecurity risks. By making staff aware of how any connected device can impact security, they have the awareness to protect sensitive information and check that everything they plug in is genuine and fit for purpose.
Incident response
The speed of response to a cybersecurity incident can make a significant difference in the outcome. Security awareness training can also include a detailed plan for how to respond, from who to contact to the official process to follow. This insight allows identified risks to be captured swiftly, with mock incidents providing a way to gauge the speed of response to a cyber incident.
Whistleblowing
Alongside incident response, awareness training can also include a method or policy to report misuse of software, cybersecurity risks, and related concerns to the relevant people. With increased awareness, staff can also be more aware of the actions of people around them, allowing them to defend your business from incidents in-house.
What makes security awareness training successful?
The effectiveness of security awareness training is an important consideration in picking the right cybersecurity solution for your organization. Quizzes are one way that training services may determine how effective training is following completion. Regular refreshers, readily available resources, and ‘mock’ tests of phishing or malware incidents can help cement learning from cyber security awareness training.
The method of training can also have an impact on learning ability. A combination of traditional training, ‘real-world’ example activities, visual aids and online training can be combined to provide the best solution to businesses. Working with a qualified and reliable professional training service is the ideal way to access a bespoke security awareness training solution that suits your organization’s needs.
How can security awareness training benefit your business?
Security awareness training has numerous benefits for organizations, whether regulations require you to complete training or not. Cybersecurity is a crucial concern for any modern business, with many of the functions and workflows involved in day-to-day tasks implicating an element of risk. Some of the main benefits of investing in security awareness training include:
Improve your organization’s security posture
A secure organization meets all necessary guidelines to keep your business safe, healthy, and free of breaches. Comprehensive, professional security awareness training can provide the foundation needed to improve your overall cybersecurity posture. By improving understanding and raising employee awareness, your business can benefit from faster response, a well-maintained security framework, and the knowledge necessary to defend against potential malicious attacks.
Prevent potential risks and security issues
Awareness can support your employees in uncovering risks and identifying issues before they become costly or challenging to manage. By spotting potential cybersecurity risks as or before they occur, it’s possible to prevent significant risks to your data and business information. Security awareness training helps employees make those critical connections faster, providing a solid defense against any potential breach and allowing security specialists to be alerted quickly to any problems.
Encourage employees to improve digital literacy
Digital literacy is crucial for modern workplaces, whether you work from an office base or as an entirely remote team. Security awareness training helps promote digital literacy in a way that is valuable in more than one way. Organizations can benefit from a higher level of understanding, while employees can take their lessons home with them. For employees to fully understand the cybersecurity risks in their environment, proper training and insight are essential.
Provide safety and security to improve trust
Trust is another crucial component for the success of your organization. Your clients or customers want to know that you take their privacy and security seriously, from general contact information to details relating to payment and invoicing. Security awareness training is one way to build that trust and illustrate your commitment to high cybersecurity standards for the businesses and individuals you work with.
Ensure new employees have the onboarding they need
Whether you have experienced significant turnover or have expansion plans, onboarding is vital in bringing new employees up to speed. Providing security awareness training is invaluable to the onboarding process, ensuring staff meets the necessary standards to defend and protect your business. Working with a training company can ensure all new hires have the understanding and insight needed through appropriate awareness training. This extra attention helps prevent significant gaps in knowledge between existing and new employees that can lead to greater risks.
Access bespoke security awareness training from industry specialists
As highly experienced and qualified cybersecurity professionals, our team at Ramsey Consulting Services can deliver the training your employees need. We work to the highest standards to provide security awareness training that helps protect your business, staff, and customers. Get in touch with us today to find out more about what we can do for you.
